Sports Coach Aims |
Who is BrianMac |
Finding Information |
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Sports Coach provides information on the many topics related to developing physical and mental condition
to help fitness enthusiasts, athletes and coaches achieve their goals and to assist students studying sport related qualifications. |
BrianMac is a Level 4 Performance Coach and Coach Tutor/Assessor with UK Athletics, the United Kingdom's National Governing body for Track and Field Athletics. He has 40+ years experience as an endurance athlete and 25+ years experience as an athletics coach.
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Use the menu options to the left to browse our pages or use the Goggle Site Search Facility to find your topic of interest. The A»Z Page index provides an alphabetical list of the contents of the Sports Coach web site. |
Circuit Training |
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Circuit training is an excellent way to improve mobility, strength and stamina. The circuit training format utilizes a group of 6 to 10 strength exercises that are completed one exercise after another. Each exercise is performed for a specified number of repetitions or for a prescribed time before moving on to the next exercise. The exercises within each circuit are separated by brief, timed rest intervals, and each circuit is separated by a longer rest period. The total number of circuits performed during a training session may vary from two to six depending on your training level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), your period of training (preparation or competition) and your training objective. |
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The Components of Fitness |
Strength |
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Fitness is the ability to meet the demands of a physical task. Basic fitness can be classified in four main components: Strength, Speed, Stamina and Flexibility. However, exercise scientists have identified nine components that comprise the definition of fitness: Strength, Power, Agility, Balance, Flexibility, Local Muscle Endurance, Strength Endurance and Co-ordination. Of all the nine elements of fitness Cardiac Respiratory qualities are the most important to develop as they enhance all the other components of the conditioning equation. |
The common definition is "the ability to exert a force against a resistance". The strength needed for a sprinter to explode from the blocks is different to the strength needed by a weight lifter to lift a 200kg barbell. This therefore implies that there are different types of strength. The classifications of strength are: Maximum strength (greatest force that is possible in a single maximum contraction), Elastic strength (ability to overcome a resistance with a fast contraction) and Strength endurance (ability to express force many times over). So how do we get stronger? |
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Medicine Ball Training |
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The ability to generate strength and power is a very important component for success in many sports, particularly in those involving explosive movements. Medicine ball training, in conjunction with a program of weight training and circuit training, can be used to develop strength and power. Certain medicine ball exercises can also be used as part of a plyometric training program to develop explosive movements. Medicine ball training is appropriate to all levels of ability, age, development and sport. To be most effective the program should contain exercises that match the pattern of movements of the sport. So what sort of exercises are there? |
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Body Fat Percentage |
Muscle Types |
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It is generally accepted that men should have less than 18% total body fat and women 23% or less, However, experts suggest that an excess is not particularly hazardous to health until an individual accumulates 35% and 40% total body fat respectively. Measuring body fat percentage is an easy method of discovering correct body weight and composition. Beneath the skin is a layer of subcutaneous fat, and the percentage of total body fat can be measured by taking the 'skinfold' at selected points on the body with a pair of callipers. What points do you measure? |
Muscle tissue consists of fibers (cells) that are highly specialized for the active generation of force for contraction. Because of this characteristic, muscle tissue provides motion, maintenance of posture, and heat production. Based on certain structural and functional characteristics, muscle tissue is classified into three types: Cardiac, Smooth and Skeletal. Most skeletal muscles of the body are a mixture of all three types of skeletal muscle fibres, but their proportion varies depending on the usual action of the muscle. |
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VO2max |
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Fitness can be measured by the volume of oxygen you can consume while exercising at your maximum capacity. VO2max is the maximum amount of oxygen in millilitres, one can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight. Those who are fit have higher VO2max values and can exercise more intensely than those who are not as well conditioned. Numerous studies show that you can increase your VO2max by working out at an intensity that raises your heart rate to between 65 and 85% of its maximum for at least 20 minutes three to five times a week. A mean value of VO2max for male athletes is about 3.5 litres/minute and for female athletes it is about 2.7 litres/minute. |
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Training Principles |
Heart Rate Training Zones |
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People get involved in exercise for a number of reasons: to improve their health and physical condition, to achieve a sporting ambition, to relive the tension and stress of daily life, to loose weight, it makes them feel good. Participating in sport encourages co-operation in team sports, develops the element of competitiveness, provides a physical challenge and the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Training to improve performance obeys the principles of training: specificity, overload, recovery, adaptation and reversibility. |
Heart rate training zones are calculated by taking into consideration your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) and your Resting Heart Rate (RHR). The zones are: • Energy Efficient or Recovery (60-70%) • Aerobic (70-80%) • Anaerobic (80-90%) • Red Line (90-100%) Within each training zone, subtle physiological effects take place to enhance your fitness. |
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Conditioning |
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One of the misconceptions in the sports world is that a sports person gets in shape by just playing or taking part in his/her chosen sport. If a stationary level of performance, consistent ability in executing a few limited skills is your goal, then engaging only in your sport will keep you there. However, if you want the utmost efficiency, consistent improvement, and balanced abilities sportsmen and women must participate in year round conditioning programs.
The bottom line in sports conditioning and fitness training is stress, not mental stress, but adaptive body stress. Sportsmen and women must put their bodies under a certain amount of stress (overload) to increase physical capabilities. |
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Weight Training |
Ideal Weight & BMI |
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Better performances can be the product of a number of factors. This product is primarily the outcome of efficient technique, the progression of speed and the maturing competitive attitude on a sound basis of general endurance, all round strength and general mobility. The development of all round strength is best achieved via circuit training and then progressing this through weight training. |
A method of determining if you have an ideal body weight is to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI). To calculate your BMI divide your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared (weight ÷ height²). The normal acceptable range of this measurement is 20.1 to 25.0 for men and 18.7 to 23.8 for women. A more accurate assessment of your ideal weight takes into account your body composition. |
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Performance Evaluation Tests |
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In constructing tests it is important to make sure that they really measure the factors required to be tested, and are thus objective rather than subjective. In doing so all tests should therefore be specific (designed to assess an athlete's fitness for the activity in question), valid (test what they purpose to test) and reliable (produce a consistent result irrespective of the tester). Details of over 100 performance evaluation tests for Aerobic Endurance, Anaerobic Endurance, Agility, Balance, Body Composition, Event Time Predictors, Fitness General, Flexibility, Psychology, Reaction Time, Strength - Core, Strength - Elastic, Strength - General, Speed and Power, Talent Evaluation and Tests for young athletes are available. |
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Speed Training |
Endurance Training |
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Speed is the quickness of movement of a limb, whether this is the legs of a runner or the arm of the shot putter. Speed is an integral part of every sport and can be expressed as any one of, or combination of, the following: maximum speed, elastic strength (power) and speed endurance. The two factors that effect speed are stride length and strike rate. Speed endurance is used to develop the co-ordination of muscle contraction. Repetition methods are used with a high number of sets, low number of repetitions per set and intensity greater than 85% with distances covered from 60% to 120% of racing distance. How can we improve our speed? |
The types of endurance are aerobic endurance, anaerobic endurance, speed endurance and strength endurance. A sound basis of aerobic endurance is fundamental for all events. During anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as oxygen debt. This point is often measured as the lactic threshold or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). What are the other forms of endurance? |
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Nutrition |
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For every physical activity, the body requires energy and the amount depends on the duration and type of activity. Energy is measured in Calories and is obtained from the body stores or the food we eat. Glycogen is the main source of fuel used by the muscles to enable you to undertake both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. If you train with low glycogen stores, you will feel constantly tired, training performance will be lower and you will be more prone to injury and illness. |
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Minerals |
Tapering |
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Approximately 4% of the body's mass consists of Minerals. They are classified as trace minerals (body requires less than 100 mg/day), and major minerals (body requires more than 100 mg/day). Minerals can be found in water and soil and therefore in root plants and animals. The trace minerals are iron, zinc, copper, selenium, iodine, fluorine and chromium. The major minerals are sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, sulphur, cobolt and chlorine. How do we ensure we get all the right minerals and amounts? |
Most endurance athletes accept that tapering before a competition is beneficial, but few understand why. A trial was conducted back in the 1980's by a group of Canadian researchers at the McMaster University in Ontario. The trial was conducted for a one week period, with a group of experienced endurance athletes who all run approximately 50 miles a week in training. The athletes were split into 3 groups, with each group working a different training program for the week. At the end of the week the performance improvement for each group was checked. So what was the result? |
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Core Stability |
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As with any type of strength and conditioning training, the training protocol for improving the function of the deep-trunk muscles must be specific to the task required. This specificity of training must take into account the type of contraction, the muscle fibre type and the anatomical position required. By definition, the deep-trunk muscles act as "stabilisers" and are not involved in producing movements, but instead involve static, or isometric, contractions. Furthermore, they must act as stabilisers continuously throughout everyday activities as well as fitness and sport activities, and so require very good endurance of low-level forces. These muscles do not need to be very strong, but they must be correctly coordinated and capable of working continuously. So what type of exercises should I be doing? |
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Warm Up & Cool Down |
Lactic Acid |
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There is no doubt that time spent on warming up and cooling down will improve an individual's level of performance and accelerate the recovery process needed before and after training or competition. Muscle stiffness is thought to be directly related to muscle injury and therefore the warm up should be aimed at reducing muscle stiffness. Dynamic stretches are more appropriate to the warm up as they help reduce muscle stiffness. Static stretching exercises do not reduce muscle stiffness. What are the other benefits? |
The expression "lactic acid" is often used by athletes to describe the intense pain felt during exhaustive exercise, especially in events like the 400 metres and 800 metres. When energy is required to perform exercise, it is supplied from the breakdown of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The body has a limited store of about 85 grms of ATP and would use it up very quickly if we did not have ways of resynthesising it. There are three systems that produce energy to resynthesise ATP: ATP-PC, Lactic Acid and Aerobic. |
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Sports Psychology |
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The increased stress of competitions can cause athletes to react both physically and mentally in a manner that can negatively affect their performance abilities. They may become tense, their heart rates race, they break into a cold sweat, they worry about the outcome of the competition, they find it hard to concentrate on the task in hand. This has led coaches & athletes to take an increasing interest in the field of sport psychology and in particular in the area of competitive anxiety. That interest has focused on techniques that athletes can use in the competitive situation to maintain control and optimise their performance. So what are these techniques? |
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Ladder Training |
Running Economy |
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Strength training, like gymnastic training, is part physiological adaptation and part neurological adaptation - by which I mean in many cases the limiting factor, is not the size of your muscles but the nervous supply to those muscles. As strength training is in part a skill, we need to perform repeated movements with sufficient volume to allow the body to learn how to perform the exercises in a skillful coordinated way. Here in lies the problem - the best was to get better at pull ups is to do lots of them, but if you cannot do many in the first place, how do you achieve sufficient volume to get really good at the exercise? Luckily, the conundrum has a solution - and that solution is called "ladder training". |
In many sports speed is an important attribute and ways to
improve speed are sought after. In a simplistic view, to improve speed you need
to increase stride length and/or stride rate. It is more effective to work on stride rate
because this increases the power in the leg muscles which in turn naturally
increase stride length. In a number of sports (e.g. football, basketball,
netball, hockey) the athlete is required to conduct short bursts of effort and
is then able to recover by getting oxygen back into the system. There are
sports (e.g. running) where there is a long sustained burst of effort and
oxygen consumption (breathing rhythm) needs to be effective and efficient. |
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Coaching Philosophy |
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Assuming that you are a coach you presumably carry out your role based on your experience, knowledge, values, opinions and beliefs. This in itself is a philosophy and you likely do this unconsciously. The question is - do you actually know yourself well enough to understand what your core values and coaching methods are? A coaching philosophy that is well thought through clarifies many aspects of the coach's delivery and presents a consistent and positive message to the athletes being coached. One of the strongest benefits arising from a consistent and sincere approach to coaching is trust. A strong bond between coach and athlete leads to higher levels of commitment and athletic performance. With that in mind, it is the wise coach that takes the time to think through and formalize his or her personal coaching philosophy. |
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